Checkmate

Growing up in Luton, Ciaran always knew he had a creative side, and even studied at an art college for three weeks before opting out during his earlier years. However, due to the lack of opportunity he was exposed to in his local area, Ciaran tells us he had a growing desire to get out into the real world and experience all it had to offer.

This led to Ciaran joining the Royal Navy at the age of 17, visiting an impressive 21 countries during the five years he served. On finishing his service and returning back to Luton in 2008, aged 22, he knew he had to readjust back into normality after being used to a regimented daily routine. This also meant he had to figure out how he was to utilise his passion for art into kicking off his career.

Shortly after his return, Ciaran began living with his brother in East London, which was an epicentre for street art and where Ciaran was initially inspired to take a leap into his art-centric career. He told us:

4walls was wowed by artist Ciaran Robinson, a.k.a Lhouette, and winner of our Get Framous competition with the fantastically colourful collaboration with Purling London ‘More or Less Chess’, and we were thrilled to get to know more about him and his journey into the world of art!

“This is where my love for urban art really began, being surrounded by popup galleries and seeing large scale works of art on the sides of buildings, I could appreciate the culture as a self-taught antiestablishment art form” .

It was only after being exposed to such an array of work and opportunities that diverged from the more traditional art-sphere Ciaran had experienced growing up, that he decided to set up his own company. Organising exhibitions and putting together shows for more amateur, post-grad artists, Ciaran was sure to maintain his artistic abilities and continued painting his own work.

It was through this that Ciaran’s talent was initially recognised, and he was picked up by a publisher in 2010. Soon after, his artwork was being displayed in galleries up and down the UK. After considerable success, he made the decision to leave his publisher three years ago in order to set up his own independent studio.

“Maximalism is how I would describe my art,” he tells us, “we use excessive amounts of pop culture imagery and references - anywhere from 100 years in the past to current day. The netting, transformation and placement of imagery is a highly considered part of the practice, and I often work to juxtapose highbrow and lowbrow references within my art.”

Each piece of Ciaran’s work is fascinating, with the different layers, aspects and references all contrasting with each other, yet still working together to form one recognisable and established masterpiece. Ciaran will often use conflicting materials, such as industrial throw-outs like plasterboard, against more opulent, glossy materials like precious metals. It is this technique that gives the distinctively chaotic feel seen throughout the majority of Lhouette pieces.

Not only has Ciaran’s work been recognised internationally by galleries and art collectors alike, but he has some surprisingly influential fans. He tells us; “I recently worked on a project with Ronan Keating and The Marie Keating Foundation for Cancer Research, during which one of my pieces was auctioned off for £35,000.” Another notable follower of his work is Spanish film star Antonio Banderas, who now has six Lhouette pieces hanging in his home! Other important achievements include having held residency in top London hotel 45 Park Lane in 2017, with his artwork exhibited throughout the venue, subsequently landing him a television interview with the BBC. He has also recently worked on a sizeable project which took up six months of studio time, involving creating ‘The Voyage’ for the person who holds the record for owning the country’s largest residential fish tank!

In terms of framing his work, Ciaran told us: “Framing is massively important in my work. Although it is something artists may not have traditionally concerned themselves with, I can now appreciate that the trade is an artform itself - it has a huge part to play.” Having the experience of working with publishers and galleries, Ciaran works with LarsonJuhl products to frame his own work in his designated framing studio.

To see more of Ciaran’s work, follow @ Lhouette on Facebook, and @lhouette_art on Twitter and Instagram, or visit the website.

www.lhouette.com